The Mill

[Sasquatch]

Grand job Jason. How many rivets are there?

[Old Gringo]

Happy to help on this occasion;

 

Nine down and twelve across, by five panels: I make it 210 rivets!

 

It's looking really good, Jason.

 

All the very best, have a good break.

 

O.G.  - Rivet counter by appointment to the Mill.

[Jason T]

It doesn't really feel like I've done much in the past week since getting back from Spain last week and since then, we have had a couple of friends from Oxford stay with us (drinky friends - I still feel rough now).

 

However, I have made a start on the roof of the mill, cutting out and attaching the mounting board on which the paper strips of slates will be stuck when we've cut them all out (a nightmare job).

 

With that done, I was able to work out where the gutters need to go and wanted to add to the look of the mill by adding in the decorative stone courses quite often seen on stone buildings around here. so, whilst walking around town last week, I had a look upwards and below is what I came up with. As you can hopefully see, I took a wide strip of Microstrip, scored a line along the length and then at 3mm intervals, cut upwards and removed the squares. These were then stuck onto the bits that were left and angled out from bottom to top.

This was then stuck onto another, thinner strip with a 0.20 * 0.20 strip along the base, and then the drainpipe itself added, made from yet more Microstrip and dressed up with 10 thou and even more Microstrip. Finally, the edges of the gutter were rounded off.

I need to do a fair bit of this and it is pretty labour intensive.

 

And here is a section held up loosely in position. It stands out a fair bit being so bloody white - I'll paint and weather it all up before final attachment.

[Mark Forrest]

Looks great. I'd be tempted to use a short section as a master and cast in resin, but seeing speed you work at, you've probably made enough in plastic in the time it has taken me to type this

[Stubby47]

It may be labour intensive, but it's certainly worth the effort !

[Revolution Ben]

Hi Jason,

 

Even unpainted, it's clear that decorative course will enhance the building considerably.  Well worth the extra effort, I'd say.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[Jock67B]

Evening Jason,

You do seem to be a glutton for punishment! Seriously mate, those gutters are simply superb!!

You must have fully re-charged your batteries on your Spanish trip - did you and Sophia enjoy yourselves?

Kind regards,

Jock.

[Jason T]

Although it has never progressed past the stage of having the front clad and window / door apertures cut out, I have never been happy with how the loading shed looked. Too many windows, windows too large, building too large and wide, etc.

 

So, after a chat with Chris, the front right hand side of the layout will now have the road climbing from left to right and a new shed that is narrower.

 

For the new shed, I wanted it to look like a later addition to the mill so instead of using the Slaters stone, have instead used SE Finecast 7mm brick which when painted and weathered, is a good size and representation of smaller, more regular stone used on quite a few buildings.

 

However, it looked a bit too uniform so I decided to add quoins and the only way to do so neatly with no gaps was to make each one individually to fit the area of stones cut out and then file them to shape. This adds a further complication in that they need to match up perfectly on the corner edge so after doing one side, I then had to do the other and make sure that they are as close as possible so that when the building is brought together, it will take a minimum of filling and filing to make them seamless (it sits right at the front of the layout after all).

 

Not sure if the photo will upload as it is on my phone and I think the orientation is wrong but if it does, I don't suppose it matters if it is upside down.

[Worsdell forever]

Looks the right way up from here and quite good.

[Andrew P]

Hi Jason, I'm try to picture exactly what you mean, but even so the corners look very neat, I hope your able to bring it down when you visit as I do fancy a play with the shunting side of things.

 

Can you do bigger pic or sketch when your home and have more time please.

 

Cheers mate.

[Jason T]

I should add, the two sides are only leaned roughly together in the above shot; when punched together, the gap all but disappears.

[freebs]

Looks great to me Jason - is it the usual folded-in window reveal technique?

[Jason T]

Andy, some earlier shots of the layout should depict the loading shed (well, the basic shell of the original) taped together in it's place at the front right of the layout. It is basically the view blocker for the fiddle yard / sector plate and at some point will be connected to the main building with a raised walkway bridging the track.

[Jason T]

Looks great to me Jason - is it the usual folded-in window reveal technique?

It is mate, the insides being scribed away as thin as possible close into the edges of the aperture, a bit of MEK added to soften it and then folded tight in with a straight edge to get them as square as possible. The lintels and sills are yet to be recessed and added, in fact there is a lot to do on this one. It differs from usual in that I usually paint and weather the stone first but as I wanted to add quoins, etc and as the SEF is white, I want to get the sides progressed before giving them a first coat from a rattle can so they will take the enamels better.

[class"66"]

More impressive modelling Jason

 

 

 

cheers neil..

[Jason T]

Off to sunny Spain again shortly but as I have had some free time this morning, I've been getting on with the new shed. There is more done than shown as the other end of the building is also now clad and has quoins fitted. As can be seen, I've made a start on the sills; noticeable for their absence are the lintels and the girders above the doors (no H section left in stock - I could always make some I suppose)

 

Here is the front of the old loading shed, which I felt was just too large and didn't like the size of the windows. It deserves to be blurry.

 

And it's replacement, much narrower to allow the road along the front to continue past it. The plan is for the road to climb up to trackbed height from left to right. It's still not stuck together as I have a load more work to do, so it's is just two sides leaning together at the moment.

 

For Andy P, here is where it sits. It basically blocks the view of the sector plate.

[Chris-GNR]

Evening all...

 

Fantastic work above by Jason on the new loading shed, the newer more narrow building with the plan to have the road climbing up past it will add to the interest of the scene. Also the bridge & the additional walling on the top of the retating walls has brought it forward a big step. Still plenty to do though.....

 

Here are the first batch of Jason's BR (50s) wagons that I've fitted AJs to, I've used an etch from Ambis Engineering that I got at Scalefour North, it has really helped speed things up regards fitting AJs. I'll try & cover this a bit more detail as a separate post.

 

 

Today I've managed to continue with the David Geen 13t hopper. Before staring today I'd assembled the body, fitted a floor from plasticard & made up the W irons. As I think I said when I started it I didn't intent to use the axle boxes that come with the kit, so I've used some LNER ones from the EM gauge society stores with MJT rocking W irons. One end is fixed & the other rocks giving the 3 legged stool effect.

 

 

Brakegear, this is something that for me (& I'm sure is the same with Jason) that the more wagon kits I build the more I feel they need improving in this area. I have on a couple of wagons now gone back & cut away the moulded safety loops for the brake shoe arms & replaced them with thin metal strip or as Jason has mentioned using a fine staple works well. I find this improves the look of the under gubbins well. At Scalefour North last month I came across a Bill Bedford etch 'wagon bits' this has some etched safty loops & also some brake lever loops (Plus a few other handy bits). I've used both of these to help refine the look of the brake gear on the hopper plus I've used etched brake levers (ambis engineering, also Scalefour North).

 

 

Also I've started cutting the head & shanks off the white metal buffer & drilling them out & fitting them with Alan Gibson sprung buffer heads, once they're fitted I'll start with making the hopper for the inside of the body.

 

Cheers for now.

Chris

Edited May 6, 2015 by Chris-GNR

[Chris-GNR]

Good evening all....

 

As promised a little more detailed post about the Ambis Engineering AJ Coupling Aid (version 3).

Below is the etch quite odd looking as is sits on the spru but when bent up it starts to reveal its potential to aid not only mounting the AJ hook but also setting the hook from the other end of the wagon at the correct hight.

 

 

The tricky part of using the aid is getting the bend in the right place to set the hook at the correct hight & this can change depending on the nature of construction on the underside of the wagon floor. So I have been using the axle hight as a datum measuring up (when the wagon is upside down) to work out where the bend should be. One tweek I've been making to them is to file the a groove in the narrow area where the hook wire sits, if you don't do this the hook can move side to side off the centre line of the vehicle wich is not a good thing where AJs are concerned. The small folded up area is where you can solder the hook for the other end. To fix it in place to the floor underside I've used a good quality super glue making sure the brass was clean & the plastic free from paint.

 

The two shots below show the aid folded up but the second has the grove filed to keep the hook central.

 

 

Here is one of Jason's vans with the complete AJ coupling fitted with 1/2" panel pins used as droppers, cut down to length & a fine slot cut in the end to sit it on the hook wire to help soldering it in place. They just needs the shiny bits painting mucky black.

 

 

Cheers for now.

Chris

[garethashenden]

Interesting. I've got an etch of those but I never could figure out how to use it. May need to reinvestigate things now...

[Stubby47]

Does the groove alter the height of the AJ when at rest, meaning either the wires aren't horizontal or there is some other adjustment neded to maintain the correct height with non-groove fitted stock ?

[Chris-GNR]

Does the groove alter the height of the AJ when at rest, meaning either the wires aren't horizontal or there is some other adjustment neded to maintain the correct height with non-groove fitted stock ?

The grove is filed first job once cut off the spru, then the position of the bend is calculated from the apex of the grove. The wire travels at an angle from the other bracket at the opposite end of the wagon & as it runs through the filed grove I've bent it horizontal as the grove is at the correct hight. Checking it using the hook bending jig & hight gauge from the EM gauge society.

All vehicles I've fitted with the AJ aid have the grove filed.

 

Cheers....

Edited May 8, 2015 by Chris-GNR

[Jason T]

A few progress shots showing the loading shed and the road climbing up past it. Also, a variety of both mine and Chris's stock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AireValley1962]

I don't think that a Hornby L&Y pug . . . . is it?

[Jason T]

It is William, although the earlier Dapol one and only the body is RTR; the chassis is the High Level kit, built compensated. It allows you to model it with an open cab and the chassis itself is a work of art (well, it is if someone better than me builds it). The original pug was kindly donated by Chris 2ManySpams and was in LMS livery, the finished one will be in BR early crest once repainted.

[Andrew P]

Morning Jason, its looking excellent mate and the Mill itself looks even more dominant with that little Loco sitting in front of it, lovely work on the wagons as well. I cant wait to see it.